A/HRC/19/60/Add.2 Transnistrian “authorities” referred to as a “probationary period”, religious communities are subject to certain restrictions, for instance concerning the dissemination of literature and public manifestations of their convictions on television, radio or other media. The Special Rapporteur is very troubled by these restrictions, which appear to prevent any public communication of religious communities and thereby infringe the freedom to manifest their religion or belief. It was not entirely clear what the legal and de facto situation of nonregistered religious groups is in this region. According to an “official” of the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova, 133 religious organizations and six branches are registered. 60. In order to clarify that missionary activities fall within the protection of freedom of religion or belief, vague or overly broad formulations about prohibited proselytism, as currently included in the 2007 Law, should be deleted or amended. The Special Rapporteur was informed that the new law, adopted by Parliament on 21 December 2011, now defines “abusive proselytism” as an action to change a person’s or a group’s religious beliefs by resorting to constraints. In his view, this wording is still problematic, and he would like to recall that article 18.2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights only refers to “coercion”, stating that no one should be subject to coercion, which would impair his freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice. 61. The Special Rapporteur received information that religious personnel without Moldovan citizenship, such as Catholic Priests from Poland or Romania or United States missionaries, might receive only short-term residence permits, which apparently must be renewed on an annual basis. He would like to emphasize in this context that the enjoyment of freedom of religion or belief, because of its status as a universal and inalienable human right, cannot be made dependent on citizenship or nationality. 62. The laws of the Republic of Moldova contain a number of provisions, in both the Criminal Code and the Code of Administrative Offences (see paragraph 17 above), that prohibit incitement to hatred against members of religious groups. The Special Rapporteur was unable to find out to what degree and in which manner these laws are carried out in practice, but heard testimonies indicating that these provisions are rarely, if ever, implemented in practice. 63. Despite the fact of an extensive removal of community property – as well as destruction of property – from various religious communities during the twentieth century, there is apparently no law on the restitution of religious property, and religious property administration is a matter of dispute. 20 Religious communities seem to be treated differently in this regard. For example, the Moldovan Orthodox Church has apparently received title over properties (including properties also claimed by the Bessarabian Orthodox Church), the Catholic community is involved in litigation to recover title to community property, while the Jewish community has reportedly been forced to purchase back community properties. As at October 2011, the Bessarabian Orthodox Church was also reportedly involved in litigation seeking the annulment of a contract between the Ministry of Culture and the Moldovan Orthodox Church to transfer hundreds of religious monuments to the administration of the latter. The Special Rapporteur is of the view that this area should be better regulated by law with a view to ensuring non-discrimination in communal property restitution matters. In any case, the Government should ensure that there is no discrimination in practice in religious community property regulation. 20 The administration of religious buildings considered architectural monuments is reportedly regulated by Government Decision nr. 740 of 2002. This reportedly includes some 650 monuments transfered to the possession of the Metropolitan Church of Moldova, among them churches allegedly belonging to the Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia. 17